Eragrostis minor aka Small Stink Grass

Eragrostis minor, or small love grass, belongs to the grass family, Poaceae. Kew lists its native range as Rajasthan in India. It places the species in a seasonally dry tropical climate. The Useful Tropical Plants database reports a much wider range. This spans temperate Europe and Asia, Africa, and New Guinea. That account does not separate native from introduced populations. The RHS states that it is not native to Britain or Ireland.

This small grass forms loose clumps with stems that rise upward. New shoots can grow from the base, making several stems. Kew classes it as an annual. The tropical database describes both annual and perennial growth. Its listed height is about 1.3 feet [0.4 metres]. The fuller account gives 0.2–2 feet [0.06–0.6 metres]. These figures describe the plant, rather than a tested garden range. Some plants flower and set seed at just 0.16 feet [0.05 metres].

Its flower head is a panicle, with flowers grouped in spikelets. The tropical database compares it with Eragrostis cilianensis. The two species can be hard to tell apart. In E. minor, the spikelets tend to be narrower and oblong. Its panicle is more open, and its lemmas are shorter. A lemma is a small bract within a grass spikelet. The grain is broadly oblong. No single one of these traits gives a sure identification.

The species grows in waste ground and other weedy places. The tropical database flags it as a potential weed. It records wild plants, but gives no cultivation details. Seed is its listed means of propagation. The evidence gives no firm guide to garden light or watering. It also supplies no hardiness rating or species-level flowering season. Its dry-climate record alone does not establish its needs in gardens. No specific pests or diseases appear in these accounts.

People sometimes gather the seeds from wild plants for food. They use the grain as a cereal, chiefly during food shortages. The seeds are small, which makes them awkward to handle. The tropical database gives their food value two out of five. It reports no known hazards, medicinal uses, or other uses. This lack of reported hazards does not prove safety for pets. The sources do not describe a tested ornamental role in gardens.